[throwaway2474]

When I was at university, all the physicists loved to humblebrag about the “crackpots” that came to them, and how much dumber they were than real physicists. They had a similar but less pronounced snobbish dislike for students from other faculties, like engineering.

The thing is, most of them (with a couple of exceptions) weren’t actually any smarter. They just “knew the language”, exactly as this article says. Sadly, their attitude turned a number of people off physics I think.

The tone of this article is similar. The author kindly took the time to talk to the unwashed masses because he felt sorry for them, or something. But, as he said, he never learnt anything real from them, except how to communicate better with idiots.

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I couldn't disagree more about the tone of this article. Is it possible you are projecting your past experience of that snobbish attitude onto this article? To me it seems to be an article about a real, practical attempt to bridge the gap between autodidacts and academics, and is written with empathy and honesty.

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Adding to clarify: I agree the snobbish attitude you describe does exist. I just think it’s exactly what this article addresses. He gives an honest report of what it’s like from his perspective, in good humour. And sums it all up with this:

> I still get the occasional joke from colleagues about my ‘crackpot consultant business’, but I’ve stopped thinking of our clients that way. They are driven by the same desire to understand nature and make a contribution to science as we are. They just weren’t lucky enough to get the required education early in life, and now they have a hard time figuring out where to even begin. At the same time, the physicists on my team like to help others understand more about science and appreciate the opportunity to apply their knowledge outside academia. In connecting both sides, everybody wins. And who knows? Maybe we’ll be the first to learn of the new Theory of Everything.